Message from the President

Greetings from Dr. Katie Holmes

TUVAA President

Dear Tufts Veterinary Alumni Association members,

Amidst the hustle of another year well on its way, I hope you are feeling fulfilled in your important roles in your community. We are fortunate to have such latitude to apply our degrees in a variety of ways. Whether you are building your practices and creating places of high quality medicine, teaching and training the next generation of veterinarians, conducting research and developing methods that the rest of us will later utilize, or being a pillar of your community as "the other family doctor", I am proud and grateful to be your colleague and fellow Tufts alum.

Did you see the latest issue of Cummings Veterinary Magazine? If you have not had an opportunity to read the hard copy, you can always view it online to learn about the latest school happenings as well as stories from alumni. https://sites.tufts.edu/vetmag/ Do you have a story to share with the Tufts community about work that either you or one of our alums are doing? We want to hear about it and encourage you to contact the Alumni Office at vetalumni@tufts.edu.

Speaking of stories…

V93 Shari Morana and I traveled for a weeklong trip to Ecuador working with Tufts and with an organization called Amici Cannis, which provides veterinary care to locally owned and unowned small animals of Cotacachi, a town about a two hour car ride north of Quito. We were accompanied by a superstar fourth year student Sara Forsythe. This trip is the first to take place as part of a new TUVAA project titled Alumni-Student International Service Program. Our primary role with the new program, and at Amici Cannis, was to mentor Sara as she gained surgical experience. Shari and I also felt helpful contributing to the medical management of patients as they came in for consults.

The experience was a success and highlighted a great opportunity for collaboration between the Tufts community and Amici Cannis. Volunteering at Amici Cannis is now an approved two week elective for our fourth year students. Here’s where you come in: we hope to partner Tufts alumni with Tufts students for at least the first week of their trip.
Why travel to Amici Cannis with a Tufts student?

1) You’ll have an opportunity to help a resource deprived area of the world with limited veterinary care. (Because we’ve already been there, there should be few logistical surprises.)

2) Be a force for good. Mentoring a Tufts student will improve their surgical and clinical competency for primary case responsibility and you will be directly responsible for helping train the next generation of veterinarians.

3) Traveling to this beautiful country is worth the trip itself. However it is an entirely different and wonderful experience to be a part of a foreign place engaged in community work.
Please contact the Alumni Office if you’re interested in volunteering for a life-changing experience in Ecuador.

TUVAA is establishing a scholarship fund (Alumni/Student International Service Fund) which will provide partial support for students only. Donations to this fund are tax-deductible, and are important for project sustainability. Please email vetalumni@tufts.edu if you are interested in contributing to this scholarship.

This is just one of the many meaningful projects currently underway. We also want to hear YOUR great idea. Please share your thoughts! If you would like to be more involved, consider joining TUVAA for our next meeting either in person or via Webex. Information for upcoming meetings will be posted on the TUVAA facebook page,https://www.facebook.com/TuftsDVMalumni/ and our online calendar for upcoming community events https://alumni.vet.tufts.edu/calendar/. We would love for you to be a part of our conversation.

Together we form a talented group of individuals who are improving the health of animals and people and making our planet a better place. Our shared passion and connection to our incredible school opens doors and strengthens our ability to tackle opportunities and challenges as a team. I am honored to serve you, the conscientious alumni of Tufts, and look forward to our continued progress in making a positive impact.